Reaper

Welcome to the Afterlife, Please Enjoy Your Stay

He shoots, and he scores. The masked man's bullet goes straight through his victims skull. Took him long enough. I've been standing here for, oh say thirty minutes, while the young woman pleaded for her life. But I knew she was going to die, of course. As her lifeless corpse falls to the ground, I watch her spirit float upward, leaving its body behind. Now it's my turn for some action.

I choose to ignore her murderer, who is now running to the exit, clutching a few copper kernels-only enough to trade for an egg or two, not worth stealing in my opinion-I instead turn towards her spirit. As I do, countless times a day, I hold my right hand out in front of me. In it, my scythe appears, seemingly out of thin air. In a simple, smooth motion, I run the blade through her spirit. There's a quick flash of light, then she disappears. A faint buzzing coming from my scythe is the only indication that I have successfully collected her soul.

But, of course I have. It's not like this is a hard job. Tiresome, at times, but fairly simple. I kind of just fly around all day until someone is about to die. Being what I am, I can sense death, near death that is, and appear on scene before anything happens.

Wait, reap, repeat. All day, everyday. Then at the end of the "work" day, I have to guide all the souls reaped and collected to the afterlife.

Now, the sun starts to set on the horizon, signaling it's time to take the souls. Spreading my wings, I take a running jump into the sky. I find my checkpoint, a place somewhere between the life and afterlife, where I will free all the souls I reaped today. Then I will briefly explain to them what is going on, before releasing them into the afterlife for good.

It only takes a few minutes to get to the checkpoint, which is somewhere in the inter-dimensional world. I hold out my dominant hand, summon my scythe, blah blah blah. I go through the motions.

And the room fills with souls, in order in which I reaped them. Three hundred of them in all. Once they're all here, I begin my mandatory speech.

"Hello," I say in Caelian. 300 tired, weary, and confused faces look my way. "My name is Archer Meadowsly," I continue, ignoring the despair filled eyes trained on me, "and I'm an angel." There are a few gasps, some people start to cry, most faces, however, stay blank. That have no concept of what an angel is.

"Today, you all died, but don't worry. I am here to take you to your next life. It is a better place." Here is where I get the usual response. Relief and joy spread over the faces of reaped spirits. "When you get there, you will not remember your life here, you will not remember Caelum." If joy was what they felt before, then this is ecstasy. No, it's hope. Hope is what I see on their faces, in their eyes. Now I know they are ready to move on.

"Tomorrow morning," I say, "Your souls will be born into babies in the afterlife." As gruesome as my job is, this is always the best part. Seeing all the souls relax, knowing they will get to spend eternity away from this horrible world that Caelum is. And even though they won't actually remember it, their spirits will be happier.

I take a deep breath before continuing my monologue, "Anyways, good luck, to all of you, in your new lives on Earth."